I Love This Scallop Punch!

About a month ago, one of the ladies in my stamp club asked if I would like to do a class for her church's Super Saturday, a day when a bunch of different craft classes are offered to the congregation and anyone else who wants to attend. Of course I said "Yes!", and went searching for some great ideas. I decided to teach them how to make 10 Christmas gift tags, a tag holder and 2 cards. On one card we will do some embossing, and the other will have Dazzling Diamonds. This is the card with the diamonds! I just got the scallop punch and decided I HAD to use it! I also haven't pulled out my Holiday Tag Team stamp set much this season since I've been so in love with all of our new Christmas stamp sets, and I love that little snowman! I thought he'd be perfect for this card. Blue Bayou and Soft Sky cardstock, Soft Sky ribbon, and Dazzling Diamonds around the edge of the scallop circle, and - voila! - a cute Christmas card! Since Blue Bayou doesn't come in a marker (and neither do any of the "In Colors" by the way), I pressed the top of my ink pad case into the ink pad itself, getting some ink on it, then used my blender pen to pick up the ink, turning it into a temporary marker! I like when ALL the colors on the card can match, and was glad to know I could do that so I didn't have to pick another color of blue for that little snowman's accessories! :)

I'll post the pictures for the other Super Saturday projects another time. Hope you enjoyed this one! :)

And The Winner Is...

...Gina Wrona! Using the Random Number Generator to pick the winner, number 19 was Gina! :) I have contacted Gina, and will get that candy out to her as soon as I hear from her.

Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments! One poster commented that sometimes people who visit blogs just like to "lurk", and I know that must be true as I'm one of those lurkers! That being the case, it was very nice to hear from all of those who regularly visit, and also from some new readers - welcome! :) Thanks for visiting, and I look forward to posting many more projects for all of you! :)

Trick or Treat!

At Scrapfest this year, my upline Bonnie brought a really cute altered bucket for display. It was decorated in a Halloween theme, with designer papers, Booglie Eyes stamp set and lots of ribbon on the handle. It was SO cute, I just HAD to make one too! So here's mine:

I think the "Creepy Crawly" designer paper is amazing: I love the colors! I have mixed feelings about the way my bucket turned out; I love it because it's done, and has been on my mind to do for a long time. I'm not so thrilled with the dazzling diamonds on the spider webs (I only did that on the one side), and I know I need more ribbon on the handle. But overall I'm happy with it, and think it will be a nice addition at the front door, filled with candy for the kiddies! :)

Halloween Cards - Do You or Don't You?

Just in time for Halloween, this was the second card made at my last stamp club. One of my ladies asked specifically for a Halloween card, and I was eager to grant her wish! I only own one Halloween stamp set though, so was a little limited. I also wanted to teach them how to do dry embossing, and I think the circles went well with the small stamps. I loved using the dry embossing template "Punches Plus"; it not only allowed for embossing, but also provided a template for circular holes (using the poker from the crafter's tool kit), as well as a good template for sponging (on the outer edges of each circle). I also taught them how to emboss using the Crop-a-dile! What a fun tool that is! Using the crop-a-dile for embossing does take a little practice; if you're not careful you'll have a hole instead of a raised circle!

To finish off the card, I sponged Only Orange onto the little "Eek" and "Happy Halloween" pieces. The "Happy Halloween" is from Everyday Flexible Phrases (the only stamps I had with that sentiment!).

I have to say that I have never given a Halloween card before, nor have I ever received one. As shocking as that might be to some, I know I'm not the only one, as most of my stamp club said the same thing! So, do you give Halloween cards out? I'd love to know if maybe I'm missing out on something here! ;)

Blog Candy Picture

Here it is! I went through my cupboards this morning, and came up with quite a few nice things: Apple Green ribbon, Turquoise Ribbon, Copper cord, 8 6x6 sheets of designer paper, pretty primas and some Icicles frames.

I'm enjoying your comments; thank you for all the nice feedback! :) To enter the contest, scroll to the next post and enter a comment there. Good luck! :)

Card, Cake And Candy!

I just checked my stat counter, and it's at 5015!!! You know, when I started this blog, I never and I mean NEVER thought I'd get to 5000 hits. I saw other blogs with 5000 and more hits, and wondered with admiration how they ever got so many people to look at their blog! Well, I'm not quite sure how, but somehow I did it! (Insert proud moment, and self-pat on the back here!) I really enjoy writing these posts; it helps me keep track of my projects, and it's also a bit of a diary of my stampin' life. Thank you to all of you out there who have been reading my blog; I enjoy your comments, and am happy to have you visit! :)

I'll talk about the "Candy" in a bit, but first I want to get to the Card and the Cake. My very good friend (and upline) Bonnie just had a baby girl 2 weeks ago today. Once I heard the news, I knew I wanted to do something special. I knew I'd make her a card (a given!), but I also wanted her gift to be different, and something I spent some time on. So off I went to Splitcoast in search of some ideas. What I ended up finding was this post of a "Diaper Cake"! WOW! - I thought; that's exactly what I want to do! Well, Joeknee (who made the cake on Splitcoast) even posted a link to a website that gave directions on how to make a diaper cake, so off I went. Once I knew all the things I needed to make it, I headed out to buy some baby clothes, diapers, pretty pink ribbon, and all the other items I needed to make my "cake". I splurged quite a bit on this one, but I just really wanted to make this, so I didn't mind spending the extra $$. I bought a pack of size 2 diapers (the directions say to buy more than one size, but at $18 a pack of diapers, that adds up - especially since you want to put gifts in there too!), and started rolling. I think I used about 52 of the 60 in the package! This cake was REALLY easy to make; the hardest part (I found) about it was wrapping it in the cello-wrap! The short ends wouldn't stay tucked in, so I had to tape them shut with a little piece of clear tape. For gifts, I added some sleepers, onesies and a little dress outfit (with wee little tights!). Other good things to include would be: receiving blankets, socks, stuffed animals, hats, etc. You could really go all out with this one! I had a lot of fun making this, and would do it again in a heartbeat. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of it wrapped in the cello; it looks really special all wrapped up with a nice pink bow at the top!

For the card I needed something really simple, since I had spend so much time on the gift, I had little time left to whip up the card (I was meeting the new little one the next day!)! I really like using PearlEx, so I VersaMarked the front of the card, and sprinkled some on. I love this little giraffe, and also really wanted to use a scalloped edge, so I came up with this little "window" card. It's hard to see the shiny surface in this picture, but if you click on it to make it bigger, you might be able to see it better. I used stamps from the "So Very" SAB set, and to finish it off, added some primas and of course a little glitz - a rhinestone brad.

SO, now for the Candy! Who wants some primas? How about ribbon? Maybe some designer paper? I'm putting together a nice little package for the winner, and will post a picture of it tomorrow! I will keep this open until Friday the 25th, at 7pm (Mountain time), when I will use the Random Number Selector to determine a winner! Here's what I want you to do: I love entering these posts, and enjoy watching the stat counter go up everyday, but other than the counter, I don't get a lot of comments on my blog. So, to enter for the blog candy, I would like you to reply to this post, and tell me which project on my blog you like the best, and why. I'd also like to hear any feedback about my blog; what you like, what you'd like to see, etc. I see that 5000 of you have visited, but I'd love to know what you actually think about what you see while you're here! :)

See you tomorrow with the yummy candy picture! :)

6x6 Ladybug Pages

I'm working on some pages for the newest 6x6 bragbook class I will be offering, and this layout is for May. I love the color combo with Soft Sky and Purely Pomegranite, and I saw that little ladybug made somewhere and knew I had to make one for this page! She is made by stamping the polka dot petal image from "Pick A Petal" twice and cutting them out, then punching a 1" circle for the head, and a 1 1/4" circle for the body! Simple as that! The flowers are from the Three For You punch box, with a little white dabbed inside with a gel pen. It's hard to see in the photo, but if you click on it you'll see that I've also stamped a background on both pages. I think this will be a good layout for spring photos, as well as Mother's Day pictures! :)

When Creativity Comes-A-Knockin'...

Lately I've been learning a lot about myself in the way of creativity, and in the last little while I've noticed I thrive on a deadline (nothing like leaving things till the last minute!), and I also create best late at night. I've been working away tonight on a card I'm doing with my stamp club this Friday, using the Crayon Resist technique. At first I went through Splitcoast (as I'm "sometimes" known to do!) looking for inspiration, or even a card I could C.A.S.E. I did find one I wanted to try, but then an idea struck me and I decided to try it instead. So, here it is, in it's finished format!

I thought of that little penguin, and had no idea in the beginning how the rest of the card would go; I only knew I wanted two little penguins holding "hands". Soft Sky gives a nice "icy" feeling, so I knew I wanted to use that to brayer overtop. So, on glossy cardstock, I stamped the penguins using Basic Black ink. I then used a white crayon to color their faces and tummies, making sure not to miss a spot. Anywhere I got the crayon where I didn't want it, I just lightly scratched it off with my fingernail. Then I brayered the Soft Sky ink overtop, and - voila! - 2 little blue penguins with nice white faces and tummies! I also used our Marvelous Markers to color their bodies, beaks and feet. I stamped some small snowflakes directly on the card in Craft White, and "Happy Holiday" in Basick Black. That's it! :) I thought that using Only Orange on a Christmas card was a little unusual, but I like it.

If you want to learn how to make cards like this (and many others!), ask me about joining my stamp club! :)

Blog Candy in the Horizon?

"It's beginning to look a lot like..." blog candy! I just looked at my sitemeter, and it's already passed 4800! Not long now until 5000, when I've decided I will give away a little extra something to celebrate and thank my blog readers. I'll post again when the "clock" hits the big 5 G's, with a picture of what's up for grabs! There will of course be a "skill testing question"... ;) I'll have to think of a good one!

Stay tuned, and the more people you refer to my site, the faster the blog candy will arrive! :)

A Little Inspiration...

...Is what I got when I stumbled upon this blog: Greatful Heart. I bought 2 packs of On Board Trimmings and a pack of On Board Garland Greetings, not really knowing what I was going to do with them, when I came across this amazing blog! Susan has some beautiful examples of holiday banners made with the Garland Greetings, and also some tree ornaments made with the On Board Trimmings - just what I needed to give my imagination a boost! Susan is also giving away some blog candy, so hurry over there and take a look - I'll bet she'll inspire you too! :)

Impressed With Myself!

While I was at Scrapfest this year, I bought a frame from the Creative Memories booth. I had several "plans" for it, but wondered if I would actually get around to even opening the box it came in! Well, tonight, around 9:30 I decided to open that box and try out a project I've been dreaming of. By midnight I was done, and I must say - Very proud of myself! I think it turned out lovely, and am SO glad I stayed up to do it!
While at Convention this summer, I saw a project that I loved, using a pine cone stamp and a stamp from the Peaceful Wishes set for the background. It was a 6x6 page in a smaller frame, and it really did look peaceful to me! So I tried it out on this frame using the Lovely As A Tree set for the trees, the branches from the Pines set, and "Season's Greetings" from Many Merry Messages. Then I faux stitched, roughed up, and sponged the edges! The frame already came "weathered", and it came with these great magnets to attach the sheet (making it easier to change the project anytime I want!), and also with these tiny little clothespins - so cute! Of course I added glitter and gold brads for some sparkle; otherwise it was looking to "fall", and not "holiday" enough. What do you think? I think my next project with it will involve some photos of my daughter, and I'll dress it up to put in her room - there are endless posibilities with this marvelous frame!
Click on the image to see the details up close!